Maintain Focus

skye is a total type-a, list making maniac who has discovered a place to unleash her creativity through blogging and creating. she makes custom upcycled artwork at her dining room table for her shop, thumbprint designs. she shares her stories, inspirational thoughts and love for handmade and connecting on her blog, neathering our fest.   


Every month we are going to have one week dedicated to a certain topic. This week the writers of embrace your life are sharing how we keep focus in life. 

so - i think it is really funny cassie picked my suggestion for the monthly topic.

the reason i suggested it was because i needed some serious help in this department. and here i am now, telling you how you should maintain focus in your life when i can't even stay focused long enough to write more than a couple of sentences of a blog post at a time.

i didn't think, when i suggested it, that i'd have to write a post about it. that though just never floated through my scatterbrain head. but here i am. and i have a few little tips to hopefully help you maintain focus. this is what has semi-worked for me. maybe you can give me some advice or tweak my tips to help me out a little?

1. centralize.

figuring out what is MOST important to me is MOST hardest about maintaining focus. i place so much importance on so many things that it is hard for me to distinguish what must be done versus what should be done. so i centralize. and here is how i do it:



see the big circles? i fill those with the essentials of life.

* God + church
* family + friends
* biological needs (cleanliness, food, home chores, etc)
* work
* blog + shop

these are the things that are important to me. your big circles might include totally different things. that is OKAY.

then fill in the smaller circles with things you want to do but aren't totally essential to your physical and spiritual well-being. for me this is stuff like exercising, traveling, blog reading, talking on the phone, answering emails, etc. things i'd like to do but aren't dire to my existence.

now pretend that all the smaller circles just no longer exist. the things that are in those five large circles, what is most important to you, are what you could focus on the most. all that other stuff doesn't really matter, but the things in those big circles do. right?

2. prioritize

think about all the daily grind things you do. make coffee, bathe the kids, check emails, watch the morning show, grocery shop, baseball games, guest posts, make shop items.. i mean this is only the tip of the iceberg i'd be willing to bet.

about each specific item on your to do list, ask yourself these questions:

1. does it benefit one of the big circles on my list?
2. does it directly hamper my relationship with my husband/spouse/friend if i don't do it?

if the answer is no to either of those questions, then seriously question whether or not it needs to get done. then rewrite your to do list.

3. utilize

ask for help. back out of things.

you. can. not. do. it. all.

so stop trying to.

utilize your friends, your spouse, your parents, your babysitter, your dog.

i mean heck tie your kid to the dog and let them out in the backyard. boom exercise for both!
yeah - SO kidding. clearly i do not have children. (this is a good thing.)

if you ask people to help you they just might surprise you and do it better than you would yourself! so don't be afraid to utilize those around you to get through your mountain of tasks.

okay - so there are my tips. what ideas do you have? i'd love to hear some!